IPL (Intense Pulsed Light)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Laser and IPL on the face are avoided during pregnancy for two reasons. Pregnancy hormones already trigger melasma in many women, and light energy can deepen that pigmentation unpredictably. And systemic safety data is absent — there are no human trials, because no one runs them on pregnant women. Pregnancy melasma is best managed with sun protection and gentle camouflage for now, and treated after pregnancy. On body areas this is a caution rather than an avoid: body lasers such as leg hair removal carry less concern, but still no proven safety.

Sources: American Pregnancy Association · Dermatologic Surgery · MDPI (peer-reviewed)

Laser and IPL on the face are avoided during pregnancy for two reasons. Pregnancy hormones already trigger melasma in many women, and light energy can deepen that pigmentation unpredictably. And systemic safety data is absent — there are no human trials, because no one runs them on pregnant women. Pregnancy melasma is best managed with sun protection and gentle camouflage for now, and treated after pregnancy. On body areas this is a caution rather than an avoid: body lasers such as leg hair removal carry less concern, but still no proven safety.

Sources: American Pregnancy Association · Dermatologic Surgery · MDPI (peer-reviewed)

Laser and IPL on the face are avoided during pregnancy for two reasons. Pregnancy hormones already trigger melasma in many women, and light energy can deepen that pigmentation unpredictably. And systemic safety data is absent — there are no human trials, because no one runs them on pregnant women. Pregnancy melasma is best managed with sun protection and gentle camouflage for now, and treated after pregnancy. On body areas this is a caution rather than an avoid: body lasers such as leg hair removal carry less concern, but still no proven safety.

Sources: American Pregnancy Association · Dermatologic Surgery · MDPI (peer-reviewed)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is an acute medical emergency, or a very recent one, and while you are in that phase your circulation is unstable. No elective beauty treatment is appropriate: the risk of setting off a second event — a clot moving, a re-bleed, a blood-pressure spike — outweighs any benefit a treatment could give you. There is a published case of a fatal pulmonary embolism after a leg massage in an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis. The right place for you while this is acute is under active medical care, not in a salon.

Sources: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · British Heart Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is an acute medical emergency, or a very recent one, and while you are in that phase your circulation is unstable. No elective beauty treatment is appropriate: the risk of setting off a second event — a clot moving, a re-bleed, a blood-pressure spike — outweighs any benefit a treatment could give you. There is a published case of a fatal pulmonary embolism after a leg massage in an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis. The right place for you while this is acute is under active medical care, not in a salon.

Sources: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · British Heart Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is an acute medical emergency, or a very recent one, and while you are in that phase your circulation is unstable. No elective beauty treatment is appropriate: the risk of setting off a second event — a clot moving, a re-bleed, a blood-pressure spike — outweighs any benefit a treatment could give you. There is a published case of a fatal pulmonary embolism after a leg massage in an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis. The right place for you while this is acute is under active medical care, not in a salon.

Sources: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · British Heart Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is an acute medical emergency, or a very recent one, and while you are in that phase your circulation is unstable. No elective beauty treatment is appropriate: the risk of setting off a second event — a clot moving, a re-bleed, a blood-pressure spike — outweighs any benefit a treatment could give you. There is a published case of a fatal pulmonary embolism after a leg massage in an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis. The right place for you while this is acute is under active medical care, not in a salon.

Sources: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · British Heart Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is an acute medical emergency, or a very recent one, and while you are in that phase your circulation is unstable. No elective beauty treatment is appropriate: the risk of setting off a second event — a clot moving, a re-bleed, a blood-pressure spike — outweighs any benefit a treatment could give you. There is a published case of a fatal pulmonary embolism after a leg massage in an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis. The right place for you while this is acute is under active medical care, not in a salon.

Sources: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · British Heart Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

If a mole or a pigmented patch is asymmetrical, has an uneven border, more than one colour, or has changed in any way, it needs a doctor's eyes on it before anything cosmetic happens over it. See your GP: there is an urgent referral pathway in the UK for a suspected melanoma, and you should be seen within about a fortnight of that referral. The treatment can wait. This is also the moment to say that beauty professionals are often the first to spot a change, and being told to get something checked is not an overreaction.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Skin that has not finished healing needs to be left alone. Treating over a new tattoo, a wound that has not closed, or an area that has just had laser or a peel risks infection, patchy pigment and scarring — and, with a new tattoo, pulling the ink about before it has settled. Away from the affected area, treatments carry on as normal. How long you wait depends on what happened and how deep it went, so ask the person who did it.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Skin that has not finished healing needs to be left alone. Treating over a new tattoo, a wound that has not closed, or an area that has just had laser or a peel risks infection, patchy pigment and scarring — and, with a new tattoo, pulling the ink about before it has settled. Away from the affected area, treatments carry on as normal. How long you wait depends on what happened and how deep it went, so ask the person who did it.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

A cold sore is herpes simplex, and it is contagious while it is active — for you, for the person treating you, and for the rest of your own face. Treatments that break the skin, such as needling, peels and dermaplaning, can spread the virus widely across the skin, which sometimes needs antiviral treatment to settle. Wait until the cold sore has fully crusted and healed. If you get them often, ask your GP about taking an antiviral in advance of a peel or a laser appointment. Nobody at the salon will think twice about a rebooking.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology · British Association of Dermatologists · NHS

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Melasma is the exception to everything else you have read about light and pigmentation. IPL and high-heat lasers can make it worse rather than better: the heat provokes the pigment-producing cells into making more pigment, so the patches darken. Most pigmentation responds well to light, which is exactly why this one catches people out — and why a treatment that cleared someone else's sun spots is the wrong choice here.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Skin that has not finished healing needs to be left alone. Treating over a new tattoo, a wound that has not closed, or an area that has just had laser or a peel risks infection, patchy pigment and scarring — and, with a new tattoo, pulling the ink about before it has settled. Away from the affected area, treatments carry on as normal. How long you wait depends on what happened and how deep it went, so ask the person who did it.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Skin that has not finished healing needs to be left alone. Treating over a new tattoo, a wound that has not closed, or an area that has just had laser or a peel risks infection, patchy pigment and scarring — and, with a new tattoo, pulling the ink about before it has settled. Away from the affected area, treatments carry on as normal. How long you wait depends on what happened and how deep it went, so ask the person who did it.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Intense pulsed light and vascular laser are not merely tolerated with rosacea — they are recommended treatments for it. The British Association of Dermatologists' rosacea guidelines list IPL and vascular laser, including pulsed dye and KTP lasers, among the procedural options for the type of rosacea marked by persistent redness and visible vessels. The light is absorbed by the blood inside those dilated vessels and closes them, which is something creams cannot reach.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists

Vascular laser and IPL are the right tools for the redness and visible vessels of rosacea, but not while the skin is actively flaring with papules and pustules. The usual approach is to settle the inflammatory phase first and then treat the redness underneath. Ask to be rebooked rather than treated during a flare.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Sources: JAMA Dermatology · Peer-reviewed dermatology (PMC)

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Sources: American Academy of Dermatology · British Association of Dermatologists · National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch are all the same family of fungus, and they spread through contact with infected skin, tools, towels, surfaces and floors. A pedicure on a foot with athlete's foot can put the fungus into the foot bath, the files and the towels, which is how it reaches the next person. Treatments away from the affected patch are fine. Sort the infection out first: a pharmacist can sell you clotrimazole or terbinafine cream over the counter without a prescription, and once the skin has been clear for a week or two you are back to normal.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NICE · Primary Care Dermatology Society

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is a bacterial infection, and it needs antibiotics from a GP rather than anything a salon can do. Treating over or around it spreads the bacteria across your own skin and onto towels and tools, makes the infection worse, and — with anything that breaks the skin, such as microneedling or electrolysis — risks pushing the infection deeper, which is how a skin infection turns into a serious one. That is why the answer covers the rest of you too, not just the infected patch. Book back in once you have finished the course and the skin has healed. Nobody will think anything of it.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · NICE · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

You are unwell and you are infectious, and a treatment room is a small space with someone leaning over you for an hour. Going in while you have symptoms passes it to your therapist and to whoever is booked in after you. It is also a miserable way to spend an appointment you have paid for: you cannot lie still through a facial with a cough, or face down on a massage couch feeling sick. Move the booking to once you have been free of symptoms for a couple of days. A good salon would far rather rebook you than have you turn up poorly.

Sources: NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · UKHSA

This is a bacterial infection, and it needs antibiotics from a GP rather than anything a salon can do. Treating over or around it spreads the bacteria across your own skin and onto towels and tools, makes the infection worse, and — with anything that breaks the skin, such as microneedling or electrolysis — risks pushing the infection deeper, which is how a skin infection turns into a serious one. That is why the answer covers the rest of you too, not just the infected patch. Book back in once you have finished the course and the skin has healed. Nobody will think anything of it.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · NICE · UKHSA

Chickenpox is about as contagious as an infection gets: it travels through the air as well as by touching the spots, so one person with it in a salon can expose everyone who comes through afterwards. That matters most for anyone pregnant in the first half of their pregnancy, for whom exposure carries a risk to the baby. Stay home until every spot has crusted over, then book back in.

Sources: NHS · Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

You are unwell and you are infectious, and a treatment room is a small space with someone leaning over you for an hour. Going in while you have symptoms passes it to your therapist and to whoever is booked in after you. It is also a miserable way to spend an appointment you have paid for: you cannot lie still through a facial with a cough, or face down on a massage couch feeling sick. Move the booking to once you have been free of symptoms for a couple of days. A good salon would far rather rebook you than have you turn up poorly.

Sources: NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

This is a bacterial infection, and it needs antibiotics from a GP rather than anything a salon can do. Treating over or around it spreads the bacteria across your own skin and onto towels and tools, makes the infection worse, and — with anything that breaks the skin, such as microneedling or electrolysis — risks pushing the infection deeper, which is how a skin infection turns into a serious one. That is why the answer covers the rest of you too, not just the infected patch. Book back in once you have finished the course and the skin has healed. Nobody will think anything of it.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · NICE · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch are all the same family of fungus, and they spread through contact with infected skin, tools, towels, surfaces and floors. A pedicure on a foot with athlete's foot can put the fungus into the foot bath, the files and the towels, which is how it reaches the next person. Treatments away from the affected patch are fine. Sort the infection out first: a pharmacist can sell you clotrimazole or terbinafine cream over the counter without a prescription, and once the skin has been clear for a week or two you are back to normal.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NICE · Primary Care Dermatology Society

You are unwell and you are infectious, and a treatment room is a small space with someone leaning over you for an hour. Going in while you have symptoms passes it to your therapist and to whoever is booked in after you. It is also a miserable way to spend an appointment you have paid for: you cannot lie still through a facial with a cough, or face down on a massage couch feeling sick. Move the booking to once you have been free of symptoms for a couple of days. A good salon would far rather rebook you than have you turn up poorly.

Sources: NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Every treatment is open to you, done exactly the way it is done for anybody else. That is the whole point of universal precautions, the principle salons have worked to since 1985: every person's blood is handled as though it could carry an infection, so nobody's safety depends on what anyone has disclosed. With single-use needles, proper sterilisation and gloves, the risk of passing anything on is essentially zero. In the UK the Equality Act 2010 makes HIV a protected disability from the day you are diagnosed, so refusing you a service because of your status is against the law. Modern treatment brings HIV to an undetectable viral load, which means untransmittable, and hepatitis B and C are treatable and often curable. Telling your technician is entirely your choice — it helps only with practical things, such as local anaesthetic and appointment timing around your medication.

Sources: CDC · NHS · National AIDS Trust · StatPearls / NCBI · UK Parliament

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Every treatment is open to you, done exactly the way it is done for anybody else. That is the whole point of universal precautions, the principle salons have worked to since 1985: every person's blood is handled as though it could carry an infection, so nobody's safety depends on what anyone has disclosed. With single-use needles, proper sterilisation and gloves, the risk of passing anything on is essentially zero. In the UK the Equality Act 2010 makes HIV a protected disability from the day you are diagnosed, so refusing you a service because of your status is against the law. Modern treatment brings HIV to an undetectable viral load, which means untransmittable, and hepatitis B and C are treatable and often curable. Telling your technician is entirely your choice — it helps only with practical things, such as local anaesthetic and appointment timing around your medication.

Sources: CDC · NHS · National AIDS Trust · StatPearls / NCBI · UK Parliament

Every treatment is open to you, done exactly the way it is done for anybody else. That is the whole point of universal precautions, the principle salons have worked to since 1985: every person's blood is handled as though it could carry an infection, so nobody's safety depends on what anyone has disclosed. With single-use needles, proper sterilisation and gloves, the risk of passing anything on is essentially zero. In the UK the Equality Act 2010 makes HIV a protected disability from the day you are diagnosed, so refusing you a service because of your status is against the law. Modern treatment brings HIV to an undetectable viral load, which means untransmittable, and hepatitis B and C are treatable and often curable. Telling your technician is entirely your choice — it helps only with practical things, such as local anaesthetic and appointment timing around your medication.

Sources: CDC · NHS · National AIDS Trust · StatPearls / NCBI · UK Parliament

This is a bacterial infection, and it needs antibiotics from a GP rather than anything a salon can do. Treating over or around it spreads the bacteria across your own skin and onto towels and tools, makes the infection worse, and — with anything that breaks the skin, such as microneedling or electrolysis — risks pushing the infection deeper, which is how a skin infection turns into a serious one. That is why the answer covers the rest of you too, not just the infected patch. Book back in once you have finished the course and the skin has healed. Nobody will think anything of it.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · NICE · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch are all the same family of fungus, and they spread through contact with infected skin, tools, towels, surfaces and floors. A pedicure on a foot with athlete's foot can put the fungus into the foot bath, the files and the towels, which is how it reaches the next person. Treatments away from the affected patch are fine. Sort the infection out first: a pharmacist can sell you clotrimazole or terbinafine cream over the counter without a prescription, and once the skin has been clear for a week or two you are back to normal.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NICE · Primary Care Dermatology Society

This is a bacterial infection, and it needs antibiotics from a GP rather than anything a salon can do. Treating over or around it spreads the bacteria across your own skin and onto towels and tools, makes the infection worse, and — with anything that breaks the skin, such as microneedling or electrolysis — risks pushing the infection deeper, which is how a skin infection turns into a serious one. That is why the answer covers the rest of you too, not just the infected patch. Book back in once you have finished the course and the skin has healed. Nobody will think anything of it.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · NICE · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch are all the same family of fungus, and they spread through contact with infected skin, tools, towels, surfaces and floors. A pedicure on a foot with athlete's foot can put the fungus into the foot bath, the files and the towels, which is how it reaches the next person. Treatments away from the affected patch are fine. Sort the infection out first: a pharmacist can sell you clotrimazole or terbinafine cream over the counter without a prescription, and once the skin has been clear for a week or two you are back to normal.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · NHS · NICE · Primary Care Dermatology Society

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Shingles is the chickenpox virus waking up again, and while the blisters are open the fluid in them can give chickenpox to anyone who has never had it or been vaccinated — including the person treating you and everyone in the room. The rash itself is painful and fragile, and shingles on the face can involve the eye, which is an urgent matter for a doctor rather than a salon. Everything waits until every blister has crusted over and healed. Rest is genuinely the treatment here.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · NHS · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Active TB in the lungs spreads through the air, which makes an hour in a treatment room exactly the wrong place to be. If you have active TB you should be under a specialist team, and the first stretch of treatment is about getting you to the point where you are no longer infectious. Beauty treatments wait until your TB team confirms you are not. Once you have completed your course, everything is open to you again.

Sources: NHS · NICE · UKHSA · UKHSA

Once you have completed the full course of TB antibiotics you are not infectious, and every treatment is open to you on the same terms as anyone else. There is nothing to declare and nothing that needs adapting.

Sources: NHS · NICE · UKHSA · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

You are unwell and you are infectious, and a treatment room is a small space with someone leaning over you for an hour. Going in while you have symptoms passes it to your therapist and to whoever is booked in after you. It is also a miserable way to spend an appointment you have paid for: you cannot lie still through a facial with a cough, or face down on a massage couch feeling sick. Move the booking to once you have been free of symptoms for a couple of days. A good salon would far rather rebook you than have you turn up poorly.

Sources: NHS · NHS · NHS · NHS · UKHSA

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Warts and verrucas are caused by HPV, which usually needs broken skin to pass on — so this is a local restriction, not a reason to cancel. Nothing should work directly over the wart: no files, no blades, no wax, nothing that could nick it and spread the virus across your own skin or onto the tools. A good technician will work around it, or file it last with a disposable file that goes straight in the bin. Away from the wart, treatments carry on as normal. Most warts clear up on their own within a year or two, and salicylic acid from the pharmacy is the standard way to speed that along.

Sources: NHS Scotland (Scottish Dermatology Society) · NICE · Primary Care Dermatology Society

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Sources: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · PubMed Central (peer-reviewed case report)

Autoimmune blistering diseases make the skin extraordinarily fragile — in pemphigus, gentle sideways pressure on normal-looking skin is enough to lift it and start a new blister. Beauty treatments in that situation can set off a flare, cause painful blistering, let infection in and make the disease itself worse, and that is true of gentle treatments as much as strong ones. These conditions are looked after by dermatology and immunology teams, and most people are on high-dose steroids and other immune-suppressing medicines at the same time, which adds infection risk on top. Treatments wait until the disease is in stable remission and your dermatologist has said yes. Nothing about this is contagious — it is about protecting your skin, not anyone else's.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Autoimmune blistering diseases make the skin extraordinarily fragile — in pemphigus, gentle sideways pressure on normal-looking skin is enough to lift it and start a new blister. Beauty treatments in that situation can set off a flare, cause painful blistering, let infection in and make the disease itself worse, and that is true of gentle treatments as much as strong ones. These conditions are looked after by dermatology and immunology teams, and most people are on high-dose steroids and other immune-suppressing medicines at the same time, which adds infection risk on top. Treatments wait until the disease is in stable remission and your dermatologist has said yes. Nothing about this is contagious — it is about protecting your skin, not anyone else's.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Lupus is the autoimmune condition light affects most. Ultraviolet and visible light can set off a flare that goes well beyond your skin — a whole-body flare, not just a rash — and the 2020 review in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology states plainly that laser treatments are largely avoided in people with lupus because of that risk. There are documented cases of skin lupus appearing after a laser burn. In a salon setting, any treatment that puts light or laser energy into your face is one to decline. If you want something done about lupus-related skin damage, that conversation belongs with a dermatologist, who can weigh up the specialist options on your particular skin.

Sources: Archives of Dermatology · Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · Lupus Foundation of America · PubMed Central (peer-reviewed case report)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Lupus is the autoimmune condition light affects most. Ultraviolet and visible light can set off a flare that goes well beyond your skin — a whole-body flare, not just a rash — and the 2020 review in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology states plainly that laser treatments are largely avoided in people with lupus because of that risk. There are documented cases of skin lupus appearing after a laser burn. In a salon setting, any treatment that puts light or laser energy into your face is one to decline. If you want something done about lupus-related skin damage, that conversation belongs with a dermatologist, who can weigh up the specialist options on your particular skin.

Sources: Archives of Dermatology · Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · Lupus Foundation of America · PubMed Central (peer-reviewed case report)

Lupus is the autoimmune condition light affects most. Ultraviolet and visible light can set off a flare that goes well beyond your skin — a whole-body flare, not just a rash — and the 2020 review in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology states plainly that laser treatments are largely avoided in people with lupus because of that risk. There are documented cases of skin lupus appearing after a laser burn. In a salon setting, any treatment that puts light or laser energy into your face is one to decline. If you want something done about lupus-related skin damage, that conversation belongs with a dermatologist, who can weigh up the specialist options on your particular skin.

Sources: Archives of Dermatology · Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · Lupus Foundation of America · PubMed Central (peer-reviewed case report)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Autoimmune blistering diseases make the skin extraordinarily fragile — in pemphigus, gentle sideways pressure on normal-looking skin is enough to lift it and start a new blister. Beauty treatments in that situation can set off a flare, cause painful blistering, let infection in and make the disease itself worse, and that is true of gentle treatments as much as strong ones. These conditions are looked after by dermatology and immunology teams, and most people are on high-dose steroids and other immune-suppressing medicines at the same time, which adds infection risk on top. Treatments wait until the disease is in stable remission and your dermatologist has said yes. Nothing about this is contagious — it is about protecting your skin, not anyone else's.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Lupus is the autoimmune condition light affects most. Ultraviolet and visible light can set off a flare that goes well beyond your skin — a whole-body flare, not just a rash — and the 2020 review in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology states plainly that laser treatments are largely avoided in people with lupus because of that risk. There are documented cases of skin lupus appearing after a laser burn. In a salon setting, any treatment that puts light or laser energy into your face is one to decline. If you want something done about lupus-related skin damage, that conversation belongs with a dermatologist, who can weigh up the specialist options on your particular skin.

Sources: Archives of Dermatology · Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · Lupus Foundation of America · PubMed Central (peer-reviewed case report)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

The corneal flap made during laser eye surgery takes weeks to integrate, and for the first four weeks nothing should rub your eyes, press on them, or bring chemicals near them. That covers treatments worked on the eye area and light-based treatments delivered near the eye. One thing worth knowing for afterwards: eyes are often drier following refractive surgery, sometimes lastingly, so the dry-eye guidance for lash treatments may apply to you long after these four weeks are up.

Sources: NHS · Royal College of Ophthalmologists · US Food and Drug Administration

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

A high temperature means the appointment gets rescheduled, for two reasons. The first is other people: a fever usually means an infection, and an infection you can pass on does not belong in a room where someone leans over your face for an hour and then treats the next person. The second is you — your body is busy, you will tolerate the treatment badly, and lying still while you feel awful is nobody's idea of a treat. Phone ahead rather than turning up: most salons will move you without a cancellation fee if you tell them why, and the ones worth going to would far rather you did.

Sources: General Medical Council (UK) · UK legislation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

If you have been drinking, the appointment should be rescheduled, and a salon that says so is protecting you rather than judging you. Consent has to be informed to count, and alcohol takes that away — which matters most for the treatments you cannot undo: nobody should wake up to permanent makeup or filler they agreed to after a couple of drinks. There is a physical reason too. Alcohol thins the blood and dilates your vessels, so you bruise and bleed more, and anything involving a needle marks worse. Come back another day, sober, and you will get a better result and a decision you still agree with next week.

Sources: General Medical Council (UK) · UK legislation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

If flashing light can trigger your seizures, treatments built on pulsed light are not worth the risk. Photosensitive epilepsy affects around three in every hundred people with epilepsy, and what provokes a seizure is flicker in a particular range — roughly five to thirty flashes a second. IPL pulses, LED panels and some lasers fall in or near that range, and the goggles you are given protect your eyes from the energy without removing the flicker from the room. This is the one restriction epilepsy places on this list. If light is not one of your triggers — and for most people with epilepsy it is not — say so at your consultation, because the answer changes. If nobody has ever tested whether you are photosensitive, ask your neurologist before you book anything that flashes.

Sources: Epilepsy Action · Epilepsy Society · International League Against Epilepsy · NHS

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

If you already react to things, the answer here is almost always the same one: patch test, 48 hours before, every time you meet a product for the first time. Reactions to salon products run from a bit of redness to anaphylaxis, and the ingredients that cause most of them are predictable — PPD in hair and brow dyes, the preservatives in creams, the cyanoacrylate in lash glue, latex in gloves, nickel in tools, fragrance in almost everything, and formaldehyde releasers in some nail products. Two things people get wrong. A patch test is not a formality to be waived because you are in a hurry, and having had something before does not make you safe: sensitisation builds with exposure, which is why lash adhesive should be retested every six to twelve months and why people react to a dye they have used for years. Tell your therapist exactly what you react to, and take an allergy history seriously enough to say it out loud before, not after.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · British Contact Dermatitis Society · UK legislation

If you already react to things, the answer here is almost always the same one: patch test, 48 hours before, every time you meet a product for the first time. Reactions to salon products run from a bit of redness to anaphylaxis, and the ingredients that cause most of them are predictable — PPD in hair and brow dyes, the preservatives in creams, the cyanoacrylate in lash glue, latex in gloves, nickel in tools, fragrance in almost everything, and formaldehyde releasers in some nail products. Two things people get wrong. A patch test is not a formality to be waived because you are in a hurry, and having had something before does not make you safe: sensitisation builds with exposure, which is why lash adhesive should be retested every six to twelve months and why people react to a dye they have used for years. Tell your therapist exactly what you react to, and take an allergy history seriously enough to say it out loud before, not after.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · British Contact Dermatitis Society · UK legislation

We have a draft answer for this, but we are still checking it against a source we trust. We would rather show you nothing than something we cannot stand behind. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Sources: British Thyroid Foundation · NHS · NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries

If you already react to things, the answer here is almost always the same one: patch test, 48 hours before, every time you meet a product for the first time. Reactions to salon products run from a bit of redness to anaphylaxis, and the ingredients that cause most of them are predictable — PPD in hair and brow dyes, the preservatives in creams, the cyanoacrylate in lash glue, latex in gloves, nickel in tools, fragrance in almost everything, and formaldehyde releasers in some nail products. Two things people get wrong. A patch test is not a formality to be waived because you are in a hurry, and having had something before does not make you safe: sensitisation builds with exposure, which is why lash adhesive should be retested every six to twelve months and why people react to a dye they have used for years. Tell your therapist exactly what you react to, and take an allergy history seriously enough to say it out loud before, not after.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · British Contact Dermatitis Society · UK legislation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

If you already react to things, the answer here is almost always the same one: patch test, 48 hours before, every time you meet a product for the first time. Reactions to salon products run from a bit of redness to anaphylaxis, and the ingredients that cause most of them are predictable — PPD in hair and brow dyes, the preservatives in creams, the cyanoacrylate in lash glue, latex in gloves, nickel in tools, fragrance in almost everything, and formaldehyde releasers in some nail products. Two things people get wrong. A patch test is not a formality to be waived because you are in a hurry, and having had something before does not make you safe: sensitisation builds with exposure, which is why lash adhesive should be retested every six to twelve months and why people react to a dye they have used for years. Tell your therapist exactly what you react to, and take an allergy history seriously enough to say it out loud before, not after.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · British Contact Dermatitis Society · UK legislation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Menopause restricts nothing. It is not an illness and it is not a contraindication — the average age in the UK is 51, perimenopause can start in your late thirties, and every treatment on this site stays open to you. What changes is the skin, the hair and the nails you bring to the appointment: drier, thinner, less collagen, more shedding, and sometimes the first pigmentation you have ever had. So the useful adjustments are small ones. Shorter, cooler facials if hot flushes are part of your day. Gentler exfoliation on skin that has thinned. Extra moisture, everywhere. And if you have started on HRT, say so — it changes two small things worth knowing about.

Sources: British Menopause Society · NHS · NICE · The Menopause Charity

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

If you already react to things, the answer here is almost always the same one: patch test, 48 hours before, every time you meet a product for the first time. Reactions to salon products run from a bit of redness to anaphylaxis, and the ingredients that cause most of them are predictable — PPD in hair and brow dyes, the preservatives in creams, the cyanoacrylate in lash glue, latex in gloves, nickel in tools, fragrance in almost everything, and formaldehyde releasers in some nail products. Two things people get wrong. A patch test is not a formality to be waived because you are in a hurry, and having had something before does not make you safe: sensitisation builds with exposure, which is why lash adhesive should be retested every six to twelve months and why people react to a dye they have used for years. Tell your therapist exactly what you react to, and take an allergy history seriously enough to say it out loud before, not after.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · British Contact Dermatitis Society · UK legislation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

If flashing light can trigger your seizures, treatments built on pulsed light are not worth the risk. Photosensitive epilepsy affects around three in every hundred people with epilepsy, and what provokes a seizure is flicker in a particular range — roughly five to thirty flashes a second. IPL pulses, LED panels and some lasers fall in or near that range, and the goggles you are given protect your eyes from the energy without removing the flicker from the room. This is the one restriction epilepsy places on this list. If light is not one of your triggers — and for most people with epilepsy it is not — say so at your consultation, because the answer changes. If nobody has ever tested whether you are photosensitive, ask your neurologist before you book anything that flashes.

Sources: Epilepsy Action · Epilepsy Society · International League Against Epilepsy · NHS

Hair removal is not a vanity project when you have PCOS — it is treatment for one of the symptoms that affects daily life most, and the guidance treats it that way. Around one in ten women of reproductive age has PCOS, and unwanted facial and body hair is one of its commonest features. Every route works: threading and waxing and sugaring for the short term, laser and IPL for long-term reduction, electrolysis for permanent removal one follicle at a time. The thing to plan for is that the hormones driving the growth do not stop, so laser and IPL take more sessions than average and need topping up — that is the condition, not a failure of the treatment or of you. Laser hair removal is available on the NHS in some areas for severe unwanted hair, so ask your GP what is funded where you live before you pay privately.

Sources: NHS · NICE · Verity (UK PCOS charity)

If you already react to things, the answer here is almost always the same one: patch test, 48 hours before, every time you meet a product for the first time. Reactions to salon products run from a bit of redness to anaphylaxis, and the ingredients that cause most of them are predictable — PPD in hair and brow dyes, the preservatives in creams, the cyanoacrylate in lash glue, latex in gloves, nickel in tools, fragrance in almost everything, and formaldehyde releasers in some nail products. Two things people get wrong. A patch test is not a formality to be waived because you are in a hurry, and having had something before does not make you safe: sensitisation builds with exposure, which is why lash adhesive should be retested every six to twelve months and why people react to a dye they have used for years. Tell your therapist exactly what you react to, and take an allergy history seriously enough to say it out loud before, not after.

Sources: British Association of Dermatologists · British Contact Dermatitis Society · UK legislation

Badly dehydrated is not the state to have a treatment in, and it is worth rescheduling rather than pushing through. Dehydration drops your blood pressure, which makes fainting much more likely when you have been lying still and then sit up quickly, or when a treatment involves heat, pain or the sight of a needle. Your skin also heals less well when there is not enough fluid in it, so anything that relies on recovery gives a worse result. Drink, eat, rest, and rebook for a day when you feel like yourself.

Sources: General Medical Council (UK) · UK legislation

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

An underactive thyroid is not a barrier to any beauty treatment. What it does is change the material your therapist is working with: skin is drier, nails are more brittle and split more easily, hair sheds more and grows back slowly, and you feel the cold and tire faster than other people in the room. So ask for the gentle version of everything — no aggressive filing, no harsh removal, plenty of moisturiser, and a shorter appointment if sitting still for two hours is a lot at the moment. One thing worth knowing: if your hair has started shedding all over and your nails have turned brittle and you have not had your thyroid checked, ask your GP for a blood test. Beauty professionals notice this pattern long before anyone else does.

Sources: British Thyroid Foundation · NHS · NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are inherited differences in collagen, the protein that holds skin and joints together. In practice that means skin that tears and bruises easily, healing that takes longer and scars that spread thin, and joints that move further than they should. None of that rules out mechanical, injected or light-based treatments, but all of it changes how they should be done: gentler handling, less traction on the skin, more support under hypermobile joints, and an expectation of more bruising than the practitioner is used to seeing. How much caution you need depends on your EDS type, so bring that detail with you.

Sources: American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C · Ehlers-Danlos Support UK · NHS · The Ehlers-Danlos Society

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

There is no medical reason body size changes what treatments are open to you. What it changes is whether the salon is set up for you, and that is worth checking before you arrive rather than discovering on the day: treatment couches carry a weight rating, gowns and robes come in a range of sizes, and headrests and armrests fit some bodies better than others. A good salon answers that question straightforwardly and has the answer ready. How you are spoken to while they answer it tells you the rest.

Sources: NHS · UK Obesity Federation

The light-sensitive porphyrias react to light itself, not just to UV — visible light is enough to cause pain, blistering and scarring, and in erythropoietic protoporphyria the burning starts almost immediately on exposure. IPL and laser concentrate exactly what your skin cannot handle. This includes the small UV and LED lamps used to cure gel nails, which people rarely think of as a light treatment. If you have never been diagnosed but light has always hurt your skin in a way other people do not describe, that is worth raising with a doctor.

Sources: British Porphyria Association · European Porphyria Network · NHS · UK Porphyria Service (NHS Highly Specialised Services)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Avoid over the affected area — other areas are fine.

Nothing goes over or near the surgical site while it is still healing — no wax, no heat, no needles, no products worked into the skin there. Away from the site the picture is different, and plenty of treatments are reasonable once you are past the first week or two of recovery. Because we cannot know where you were operated on, treat this as a restriction on the area itself rather than on the treatment everywhere, and get your surgeon to confirm when the site is closed and settled.

Sources: British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons · NHS · Royal College of Surgeons of England

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.

Being disabled is not a contraindication. The treatment itself is usually exactly the same treatment; what has to change is the room, the communication and the equipment — a step-free entrance, an adjustable couch, help transferring, a description of what is about to happen if you cannot see it, writing or BSL if you cannot hear it, plain language and a longer consultation if that is what works for you. Making those adjustments is a legal duty on the salon under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales, and under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as amended in Northern Ireland. It is not a favour, and you do not have to ask for it as one.

Sources: Equality and Human Rights Commission · Mencap · RNIB · RNID · Scope · UK Parliament · UK Parliament (legislation.gov.uk)

Being disabled is not a contraindication. The treatment itself is usually exactly the same treatment; what has to change is the room, the communication and the equipment — a step-free entrance, an adjustable couch, help transferring, a description of what is about to happen if you cannot see it, writing or BSL if you cannot hear it, plain language and a longer consultation if that is what works for you. Making those adjustments is a legal duty on the salon under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales, and under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as amended in Northern Ireland. It is not a favour, and you do not have to ask for it as one.

Sources: Equality and Human Rights Commission · Mencap · RNIB · RNID · Scope · UK Parliament · UK Parliament (legislation.gov.uk)

We have not found a source we trust for this combination yet. Rather than guess, we leave it blank. Ask your practitioner and your own doctor before you book.